Reflective Essay: The Impacts Of Race And Poverty

Coming from and growing up in a rural area I had a unique education. I had the opportunity of experiencing the impacts of race and poverty. I grew up in Granite Falls, Minnesota which is near the Upper Sioux Community and Reservation. Roughly one-third of my school and graduating class was of Native American descent. Poverty was also highly evident in my school as nearly 50% of students qualified for free and reduced lunch. From my distinctive experience, I was able to become more aware of my privilege. Because I was White I never had to worry about teachers having misconceptions about my academic abilities or be punished for not completing assignments. As early as elementary, I learned that of times my Native American classmates had to stay

Slowly, as my classmates and I got older it was evident that the low-income students were more likely to fall socially and academically. These students were forced to drop-out of sports and quite any extra-curricular activity because they had to get a job in order to help support their family. This evidently lead to a lack of effort in the classroom because they did not have time to do it homework outside of class. Specifically, at my school, the students of color were at a much higher risk of getting pregnant before graduating because their parents had done the same thing, which in many cases ended up happening. It was because of this that they ended up finishing high school by going to the Alternative Learning Center. My high school showed me the importance of giving a safe space for students of color to go to. Although, this type of classroom came with some flaws, these students were better able to succeed because of this provided resource. My school also provided classes on sex education to help prevent the continuous cycle of being teen parents. Through my educational experiences, I learned the importance of providing teaching skills and providing resources to improve the continuous cycle of